in his never explaining to Clerval the possible danger to his existence from accompanying
him to Britain, Victor's continuing reticence seems perverse. Yet, at the same time,
when he is driven at last to depose himself to the law, the fact that he is treated
with patronizing incredulity and wholly exonerated from any responsibility for the
wake of destruction that has visited his family circle (see III:6:24), is a subtle
touch on Mary Shelley's part. Conventional human expectation, of necessity, protects
itself from whatever is beyond its normal range of experience.